I met a man this past summer from northern Lewis county that had first hand knoledge of this , and we discussed it at great length as I am old enough to remember this. There was also an article in the Watertown Newspaper that had a serial twist to it. My friend was on the search teams looking also. there are also stories of someone missing south of marcy dam. They got lost off the ski trail that runs from loj towards South Meadow. We traversed the same trail 2 years ago and it's tricky when there is no snow the river can turn you around if you don't know the trail.

__________________
We were put here for a predetermined number of days, he doesn't take away the days you spend in the Adirondacks with boys. Jim Seaton

This story is told to the new search and rescue members joining the team by the rangers. This incident started the offical calling ,by the Governor for the rangers to start search teams. There was much confusion and no real people in charge. Many people showing up, went out on their own and got lost also. This is a sad story which we can learn from today. Lew (searchteam 5-1)

To trail patrol... To those interested we are having the basic course taught on the 6th and 7th of may at the wilderness lodge in benson N.Y. We are members of the state federation of search teams. Our team (5-1) was started in the 80's as a explorier post and expanded to what it is today. We have had as many as over 100 members at one point and were considered to be the largest group at one time.
The Legg case has been taught by the rangers and us as the start of the search teams and the governors decision to have Rangers handle missing people in the wilderness. If you know anyone interested in joining and taking the basic course please call me at 518 725 2965. Lew Decker

Back when I was a boy....okay, late teens and early 20s, I was there at the very start of the Federation. Guys who had been on the Legg search like Chuck Blount and Huey Parrow from the Pioneers, the Youseys from Boonville and Doug Wilson, Bill Korbel and myself from Tompkins County (now Wilderness SAR in N. Syracuse) plus there were teams from Jefferson County, the Adirondack Mountain Club and the ever-elusive Adirondack Rescue Dog Association. I think it was early in 1973, in the Civil Defense meeting room in Oswego. That fall, Tompkins hosted the first Federation field training exercise. I was the one who invented the term "ComFed" (Combined Federation Field Training Exercise) I am an honorary life member of Wilderness SAR, and actually helped them out at an event last year when I was in New York on vacation.

Here in Minnesota, I am a state park ranger, and a volunteer mountain bike patroller. When I was back last year, I rode all around the Old Forge area where I spent my early years in the Adks.

Good luck with your training. I know Wilderness is holding an advanced SAR class in September. Go to www.wsar.org for more info.

Unless hosted by a local state team the fall conference will no longer be called Comfed. We are in a joint conference with Pennsylvania and New jersey called the tristate conference. I'm involved with the federation as I represent our team as the president. Have been a crew leader for some time and have a search dog. The federation has passed tough certifcation rules for the usage of dogs, which I'm almost at the end of. Hope to meet you sometime in the future. Lew Decker Team 5-1

Unless hosted by a local state team the fall conference will no longer be called Comfed. We are in a joint conference with Pennsylvania and New jersey called the tristate conference. I'm involved with the federation as I represent our team as the president. Have been a crew leader for some time and have a search dog. The federation has passed tough certifcation rules for the usage of dogs, which I'm almost at the end of. Hope to meet you sometime in the future. Lew Decker Team 5-1

Hope to see you there, or on the next search. I'll look for the guy with the dog.

__________________"Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

I first heard of the Legg story back in the mid-nineties when supposedly the Navy guy came forth claiming he saw a skeleton. It came back to the front of my mind when I read about it again in James R. Burnsides' Exploring the 46 Adirondack High Peaks.

and from the story in Post #4's link

Quote:

In the mid 1980s, a skeleton was found in the area of Santonini, but it turned out to be the body of a hiker missing since the 1950s.

I wish I would have seen this thread awhile back GG (this is the first time I've seen it), but here is what I know.

I was doing some research into the disappearance/death of Leslie Wiggs, aka Howard Gilroy. His skeletal remains were found between Santanoni Peak and Panther in June 1988. Gilroy, is somewhat of a legend-of-sorts in among 46er lore and the discovery seemed to answer many hereto unanswered questions. Forensically, it appears as if he possibly broke his leg in foul weather on Oct. 10, 1958 and died of exposure in the col between the two peaks............. Blaa, blaa, blaa, that's neither here nor there.

During that research, I ran into a few interesting tidbits about Douglas Legg. In August of 1993, David Adair (Prairie Home, MO) contacted NYSP after reading about several bones being found on an island in Newcomb Lake (later determined to be non-human in origin). He then led them them to -THIS- island and told them, that while deer hunting in 1973, he came across the skull and several long bones of what appeared to be human child.

He also states, and this is where it gets dubious, he did not consider reporting the find, as he had only a limited time to get back to his ship and he felt the hassle he would have to go through, did not warrant reporting the incident. {as an aside, I have seen this before in my 15 years as a death investigator in Western, NY}.

Subsequent extensive searches in 1993 failed to turn up any additional remains. I am to understand that NYSP held this information as very credible and I believe it is still thought that the remains are somewhere on the Island. The remains, at this point would be SIGNIFICANTLY scattered though.

Additionally, there was a small land bridge between the mainland and this island in the summer of 1971 (when the disappearance occurred).

That is the story I heard too, but NYSP and SAR dog handlers debunked it. I thought the isthmus went to the smaller island, but I do know both "islands" (technically, at the time one was a penninsula) were searched multiple times during the effort in '71, by grid and by dog team.

Was Gilroy the body Phil Jordan led searchers to during the Stephen Thomas search? That's not the name I remember.

That is the story I heard too, but NYSP and SAR dog handlers debunked it. I thought the isthmus went to the smaller island, but I do know both "islands" (technically, at the time one was a penninsula) were searched multiple times during the effort in '71, by grid and by dog team.

It's the bigger island, and my understanding is that it is felt that Douglas is somewhere on that bigger island........... Of course, like everyone else I do not know for sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trailpatrol

Was Gilroy the body Phil Jordan led searchers to during the Stephen Thomas search? That's not the name I remember.

No Hans, Phil led searchers to the body of a missing Massachusetts hiker that disappeared in 1973 (?? or 72, I think) in Panther Gorge. The one I am talking about was a skeleton that was found by hiklers high up on the Santanoni ridge that turned out to be a hiker that dissappeared in 1958.

Thanks for the info. Mavs. This story is a real haunter. Also, interesting info. on the lost hiker. There has gotta be a record out there of deaths and (still) unexplained disappearances in the Adirondacks. If anyone has any idea if and where a source like this exists, let me know. I think it is more than worth a hiker's time to read up on tragedies like this. It really makes one realize what they risk when traversing dangerous terrain.

As far as Douglas Legg, a couple of guys I have talked to who helped in the search are convinced it was foul play by a family member, but they never had the proof to pin it on the individual. Now that is totally hearsay, but that's what i've been told.

Thanks for the info. Mavs. This story is a real haunter. Also, interesting info. on the lost hiker. There has gotta be a record out there of deaths and (still) unexplained disappearances in the Adirondacks. If anyone has any idea if and where a source like this exists, let me know. I think it is more than worth a hiker's time to read up on tragedies like this. It really makes one realize what they risk when traversing dangerous terrain.

I know of no one resource on this type of data. A few of us are interested in this stuff and have some info. One case discussed on here in depth was the case of -David Boomhower-.

There's Legg of course, discussed here in depth.

I discussed the Gilroy-Wigg case (on Santanoni) a little in the other thread. I have more.

Another case that I have researched quite a bit (and have a good deal of info on) is the case of Thomas Carleton. You might be interested in that one. It's fascinating. PM me if you want more i've got a ton on it.

There a few more off the top of my head, Steven Thomas, Alain Dufresne, ect... ect...

I guess with what I do, I'm drawn to these mysteries/deaths. Odd, huh.

I wish I would have seen this thread awhile back GG (this is the first time I've seen it), but here is what I know.

Your memory is a lot better than mine is. Of course, you are still there, and I am not. (Missed you when I was back in August, too.) I had mentioned Steven Thomas, and the guy Phil Jordan located...I used to know his name, (George something?) and I was on that search. I was in college or paramedic school in Oklahoma when Thomas went missing, but my mom sent news clippings out to me. Dave Boomhower was right after I moved to MN, and was still in SAR dogs. Rick R. from Wilderness SAR sent me info on that one.

Refresh my memory on Thomas Carleton. Name is familiar, but don't recall the incident. Who are the other ones that were never located?

Strongly reccomend a new book from Borealis Books/Minnesota Historical Society Press, "Lost in the Wild" by Cary Griffith, which is available from Amazon.com. Publisher's Weekly description: "details the travails of two hikers who lost their way for several harrowing days in separate incidents in the Minnesota and Ontario wilderness and emerged alive and relatively unscathed thanks to the efforts of search-and-rescue professionals and volunteers. Hiking alone in a remote area with a changeable climate in October 2001, medical student Jason Rasmussen ran into trouble on the first day when he ventured onto a wrong path and became lost in dense forest. The hapless Rasmussen next lost a crucial map and eventually abandoned his tent, food, and hat and gloves as he tried to recover the trail. By contrast, young Dan Stephens was a savvy canoeist and guide who, in August 1998, on a routine search for his next portage, fell, hit his head and wandered away from the inexperienced group of Chattanooga Boy Scouts he was leading.

The details of the SAR operations are very complete. I know a lot of the people who were on the Rasmussen search, including the dog teams that found him.

Refresh my memory on Thomas Carleton. Name is familiar, but don't recall the incident. Who are the other ones that were never located?

Mr. Carleton was a hiker that dissapeared in the High Peaks area in Oct. 1993. The thumbnail synopsis is. He left the LOJ in the AM of Oct. 9 (93') for a scheduled for a 2-3 night backback. He left no itinerary with his family and did not sign into any registers. He was later (that AM) positivly placed at the Scott's Clearing lean-to headed towards Indian Pass. He was never seen again.

Weather was typical fall, started that AM, sunny 60's, rain in the afternoon, turning to snow by PM. Temps did not get out of the 30's for the next week and nightly low were teen's to 20's. He had some (??) cold weather gear and a sleeping bag, but no tent, or campstove.

Our team was called out on a search in the Bloomingdale area behind Whiteface mtn 4 years ago. On a back road a women (who was elderly) went to check her mail box and never returned. They looked for her for a while but as far as I know she was never found. Could be a lot of possibilities.

Interesting. I'm sure there are plenty of remains out there that will likely never be found, at least not in our lifetimes. I used to do volunteer SAR work in PA, and it's fairly easy to miss things in the dense underbrush like we have around here.

__________________How is it that you are heading west? Well, we face north and then really sudden like turn left.

Interesting. I'm sure there are plenty of remains out there that will likely never be found, at least not in our lifetimes. I used to do volunteer SAR work in PA, and it's fairly easy to miss things in the dense underbrush like we have around here.

We have 2 recent unsolved missing persons searches this season - one near Indian Lake, another not far away along the Cedar River/Moose River Plains Road.

Another current ongoing search is north of Watertown, likely to be scaled back as of today in day #8. I was there yesterday; it was much worse than any Adirondack dense brush I have ever searched in. In 8 hours of type-3 grid searching my team only was able to walk a total 2.5 miles through the stuff in our assigned block.

It is highly unusual to have so many unsolved cases in such a short period of time.

__________________"Now I see the secret of making the best person, it is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth." -Walt Whitman

All this reminds me of an old movie I saw in sixth grade one time. It was based on a true story about a man who took his step-son and step-daughter hiking in the Adirondacks back in the 50's or 60's. Anyway, they ended up getting lost and then the father ended up having a heart attack or something and so the kids had to live on grubs, slugs, and baked beans for a few days before they were found.
I don't remember who played in the movie and who the story was based on but I'd be interested in finding out what the title of the movie was. It'd be interesting to watch it again.

I'd be interested in finding out what the title of the movie was. It'd be interesting to watch it again.

The movie was called "Cold River" based on the novel originally titled "Winterkill", written by William Judson, an Adirondack area author. After the movie was in production the book was re-released in the same name. The movie starred Suzanne Webber, Richard Jaeckel (who incidently died in 1997 of skin cancer) and Robert Earl Jones, the father of James Earl Jones.

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